


heartbeat, heartbeat

by hackercatz (beherrscht)



Category: Noblesse (Manhwa)
Genre: Flashback Era (Noblesse), Fluff, Heartbeats, M/M, Pre-Contract
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-21
Updated: 2021-02-21
Packaged: 2021-03-17 22:36:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,055
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29599782
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/beherrscht/pseuds/hackercatz
Summary: Raizel believes he has no heart. Frankenstein helps him find it.
Relationships: Frankenstein/Cadis Etrama di Raizel
Comments: 6
Kudos: 47





	heartbeat, heartbeat

**Author's Note:**

> this is probably the most pure grade fluff i will write
> 
> anyways enjoy this sweet as fuck fic with my hc that nobles dont have loud enough heartbeats to be heard easily the stronger they become so rai just. thinks he doesn't have one
> 
> [♬](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YzS9fxRFuNQ)

"...It is simply that I have no heart."

It is only because of Frankenstein's thorough insistence that he excels in all fields—including and encompassing butlery—that his hand mixing the fourth cube into the chamomile tea doesn't stagger and spill the liquid into the saucer. Before he makes a mess anywhere, he retrieves the spoon from within the saucer and passes the lukewarm liquid to the seated man. Raizel, while he accepts it with all the grace he wears like second nature, still has the faintest hints of distress on his features.

"Sir Raizel," Frankenstein starts with the most serene and understanding smile he can attempt, "with all due respect," which is a phrase he adds before saying something that may come across rude, "you cannot. _Not_ have a heart. Even Nobles have a heart."

He knows because he _checked—_ more than one noble had perished at Frankenstein's hand in the name of knowledge and science. Whether or not they had a heart is one of the first that he's researched; rumors buzzed that driving a stake into a vampire's heart would kill them (though, fair point, driving a stake into _anyone_ would kill them) and he had been curious whether or not nobles even had a heart for a stake to be driven into. His research while staying in Lukedonia, powered by his curiosity, has yielded the same result among the Clan Leaders as well, though both Ragar's and Gejutel's heartbeats were much fainter than that of the foot soldiers.

"I am not like them," Raizel speaks up slowly, hesitantly. Frankenstein flinches, knowing that Raizel have taken the words right from his mind. "I am not like the others. I am anomalous."

"But you _are_ still noble," Frankenstein argues. An absence of heart meant that Raizel need to be structured dissimilarly for the necessary blood circulation, and convergent evolution may have created crabs on five separate occasions, but he doubts nature could recreate the sheer complexity of noble telepathy twice while keeping the four limbs. "You must have a heart," he speaks with the confidence of a medical professional.

"Even so..." The shadow drawn over his Lord's expression does not abate. "This does not matter. After all, I do not deserve one."

 _Ah_. So this is not only about the physical one but a metaphorical one as well. A part of him wishes to explain that if _anyone_ has a heart it would be Raizel who let him stay in his mansion for years and let him recover, yet instead of objecting he bites his lips, falling silent. With intent he rolls his cart aside to position his body above the seat, his shadow streaking a dark silhouette over the on he serves. It is so much easier to prove the existence of a physical heart over convincing someone of something as amorphous as emotions. Especially to Frankenstein, who's confident that it is he who is the heartless one between the two of them.

"My Lord," Frankenstein speaks, wielding the title that only he can use as the only human in the Noblesse's presence, "Would you not mind if I were to attempt to find your pulse?"

Raizel, after contemplating the matter for solid five minutes, nods minutely. Having been given permission, Frankenstein positions himself accordingly so his ear is pressed near the carotid. When Raizel's eyes widen substantially in surprise, Frankenstein explains, "For humans, the common places to take the pulse from is from the wrist or on the neck—where the major arteries lie. While the circulation system is more or less the same for nobles as well, their heart muscles are capable of exerting more force than the human heart, so it's subtler. Difficult to catch, unless it's coming right from the heart."

The only reply he gets an accepting, "I see."

"As the heart circulates the blood through rhythmical contractions and relaxation, if you have a pulse, you have a heart. Humans often use the murmurs in beats to find the issues with the heart. I find it far better than the explicit alternative," which is taking a scalpel and cutting him open. He doesn't doubt that Raizel could recover from it considering that clan leaders could after a few days, but while he doesn't mind much doing so to a different noble, he finds himself quite reluctant to strap Raizel to a table.

"Do you hear anything?" Raizel asks with half-curiosity, half-capitulation.

Frankenstein clicks his tongue. Even with his enhanced hearing, Raizel's pulse is so thin that he can't be sure it's not an echo, even thinner than Ragar's. He almost thinks about lying, but immediately discards the thought—between Raizel's ability to perceive the mind and his own reluctance, he isn't motivated enough to. "No, I don't," he confesses truthfully, "Yet you must consider that pulses tend to thin as power grows stronger. Considering that your powers exceed Ragar, who'd been the strongest noble I could gather data on, it makes reasonable sense."

"Then..."

"There _is_ one more place where the sound is louder," Frankenstein states then immediately slides down, awkwardly crouching between Raizel's thighs as he keeps his ear slammed to the location of the heart. He should have done this right from the start, because here he can hear the _lub-dub_ clearly, and without any odd murmurs. He looks up to Raizel fervently, with the vigor of a scientist who's proven their hypothesis wrong (and their opponent wrong.)

"Yes," Raizel says hesitantly, "I can... hear it too."

"You can?" Then he remembers the sheer fortitude of Raizel's mental capability. "I see. Then you know that I am not lying."

"That's not..." Raizel starts, but immediately shakes his head. "I would never accuse you of such a thing."

The shadow under Raizel's eye, although they have eased, still persist, and all Frankenstein wants to do is erase it permanently. Yet whatever emotional trauma he'd suffered to think he was heartless when he held this much power would be complicated, and Frankenstein understood complicated better than anyone else—that's why he was tactful enough not to pry. Instead, he picks up the pot, and points his chin towards the empty cup to say, "Would you like more tea, sir?"

When Raizel nods, they return to the gentle lull of their established routine and Frankenstein thinks, _one day_.

**Author's Note:**

> if youre into noblesse and is a rawr >:3 for raifran and noblesse maybe maybe join [cadiscord](https://discord.gg/hSVkdHj) where i hover like a dead spirit haunting esc and the other mods who actually talk about noblesse


End file.
